A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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This week’s featured articles …
DELTA LEAD SCIENTIST: Climate change impacts on species, Harmful algal blooms, and activities of the Delta Science Program
Click here to read this article.
DELTA WATERMASTER: Investigation of alleged illegal Delta diversions concludes; Delta Dry-year Response Pilot Program in place for another year; Voluntary agreements and the Delta
At the September meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Watermaster Michael George’s update included the completion of an investigation into unauthorized diversions in the Delta, the Delta Dry Year Response Program, and how projects underway in the Delta might fit into the implementation of the Water Quality Control plan, either through voluntary agreements or through regulatory requirements to implement the plan.
Click here to read this article.
GUEST COMMENTARY: Do Water Rights Have a Future? … Not as Currently Configured
Written by Robert Shibatani
Water rights, depending on jurisdiction, possess various levels of seeming indemnity and security, typically demonstrated through some standard of legally established priority. Water entitlements have been long-standing icons of local and regional industrial, economic, and political power. Over time, as water demands grew, but available supplies dwindled, they became increasingly guarded. But is all that attention and protection still validated, particularly as we look at our changing future?
Many, not all, water right holders acknowledge that there is a growing risk to their entitlements but have yet to really take proactive steps to closely evaluate these risks, let alone initiate remedies or mitigate any potential threats. Most simply choose to ignore it. In fact, some water entitlement holders seem brazenly unfettered by the whole issue. So much so, in fact, they can often be “seen” waving their permits/licenses around as if it represented some guarantee. Well, perhaps society may be able to grant some hybrid guarantee through various legal protections, but Mother Nature can override everything, even Supreme Court rulings with remarkable ease.
Click here to read this commentary.
In California water news this week …
Boswell-Vidovich water war blows up over groundwater
“A long simmering water war between Kings County’s two biggest farming entities blew up Wednesday over groundwater when the state rejected the region’s plan to shore up its declining aquifer. The fallout could be significant if the state pursues enforcement, which could include pumping limits, steep fines and fees for all groundwater users in the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings. “We’re all gonna pay the price for this,” said Kings County Supervisor and farmer Doug Verboon. “It’s like being in a classroom, you got two kids that are the class clowns, disrupting the whole class, and you all pay the price.” He referred to the farming entities, Sandridge Partners LLC, controlled by John Vidovich, and the J.G. Boswell Farming Company. The two have been battling over a number of water issues, including groundwater. … ” Read more from SJV Water here: Boswell-Vidovich water war blows up over groundwater
South Valley water wars spill over into Kings Co. Supervisorial battle
“The battle for the Kings County District 1 supervisorial seat is the site of a proxy battle for water control in the area. District 1 Supervisor Joe Neves nearly won reelection outright in the June primary, falling just over two points short of a majority vote. Instead Neves, who was first elected to the board in 1994, heads to the November election against farm manager Martin Chavez. The tension in the race centers on Chavez’s ties to controversial water giant John Vidovich. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun here: South Valley water wars spill over into Kings Co. Supervisorial battle
As drought persists, crucial groundwater supplies dwindle
“More than 60% of California’s groundwater wells are operating at below-normal levels, endangering much of the Golden State’s population that relies on the precious resource. Although relatively unknown to many Californians, who see water supply in terms of rivers, streams and reservoirs, groundwater is a hugely vital source that is largely invisible. [Groundwater] represents anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of our total water supply in the state. During dry years, it’s approaching 60-plus,” said Tim Godwin from California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR). “Upwards of, like, 85% of our populace relies on groundwater in some capacity or another.” But California’s groundwater supply is being gradually depleted and over-extracted. … ” Read more from Capitol Weekly here: As drought persists, crucial groundwater supplies dwindle
A pivot on desalination plants: California approves project in Orange County
“The California Coastal Commission today green-lit a $140 million desalination plant in south Orange County’s Dana Point, a pivot from its unanimous rejection in May of another controversial desalination project in the county. The decision indicates that state regulators see a place for new seawater desalination plants in California to bolster water supplies, particularly for coastal areas with few water sources of their own. “We believe that the project before you today, although not perfect, provides a solid example that we can use in planning for future desalination,” Kate Huckelbridge, a senior deputy director, told the Coastal Commission. … ” Read more from Cal Matters here: A pivot on desalination plants: California approves project in Orange County
California Drought: ‘A train wreck of dryness’ – The atmosphere is working against rain
California Drought: ABC10 meteorologist Brenden Mincheff explores the complex relationships between atmospheric oscillations and drought in California. Read the story here or watch video below.
Central Valley water storage at low level
“After a third straight year of severe drought, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project begins the 2023 water year with 3.6 million acre-feet of water in storage — one of the lowest starting points in recent years. The CVP’s major reservoirs are (from north to south) Trinity, Shasta, Folsom, New Melones, Millerton, and the federal share of San Luis Reservoir. The water year begins Oct. 1 each year and ends Sept. 30. “The 2022 water year was wetter than 2020 and 2021 in some areas of the state, but it was still well below average and came on such a large water supply deficit that it earned the title as the worst three-year drought on record with some of the driest winter months on record,” said Ernest Conant, regional director of the California-Great Basin region. “In order to navigate through this record-breaking drought, we had to modify operations outside of those considered in previous droughts and take a fresh look at every component of the CVP including facilities, contractors and environmental requirements.” … ” Read more from the Oakdale Leader here: Central Valley water storage at low level
California migration of millions of birds brings ‘unprecedented’ avian flu threat
“Ever year during the fall migration season, 5.4 million waterfowl descend on California, as birds from Canada and Alaska make their way south on an aerial transnational highway known as the Pacific Flyway. This year, the arrival of the birds also brings concern. A new avian influenza is circulating, and that means trouble for domestic chickens, wild birds and even mammals. “The prediction is we’re going to be hammered in the next several months,” said Maurice Pitesky, who monitors and forecasts bird viruses at the University of California, Davis. … ” Read more from The Guardian here: California migration of millions of birds brings ‘unprecedented’ avian flu threat
This California city is rapidly running out of water
“Coalinga, California, is set to run out of water before the end of this year. The city’s only water source is an aqueduct that is managed by the federal government. Officials think that the water is going to run dry before the end of 2022, the Washington Post reported. Local officials are scrambling for options. If their water supply comes up short, Coalinga politicians are going to have to buy water from the open market. It’s amazingly expensive and could impact Coalinga’s ability to provide other services for residents, according to Fox 26 News. Water on that market currently costs up to $2,500 an acre-foot, or 326,000 gallons, which would cost the city millions of dollars to obtain the necessary water. “Our citizens cannot afford a thousand dollar or a thousand percent increase on their water bills,” Adam Adkisson, a Coalinga city council member, told the local news station. … ” Read more from Gizmodo here: This California city is rapidly running out of water
Second world war ‘Ghost Boat’ emerges in California lake, puzzling officials
“Waning water levels across the west – symptoms of the region’s record drought – have revealed yet another artifact. Dubbed the “Ghost Boat” by officials, the rusted carcass of a second world war Higgins boat, used to transport troops into battle and on to beaches overseas, began to emerge from the shallows in Lake Shasta last fall. Levels have sunk low enough this year to excavate the craft fully. But how it ended up in California’s largest reservoir, buried in the depths for decades, is uncertain. “The circumstance of its sinking remains a mystery,” US Forest Service officials with Shasta-Trinity national forest wrote in a Sunday morning Facebook post, including photos of the historic find perched atop dried cracked earth of the desiccated lakebed. Numbers painted along the boat’s ramp show that it was once assigned to the Attack Transport USS Monrovia, used as General George Patton’s headquarters in the Sicilian occupation in 1943. … ” Read mroe from the Guardian here: Second world war ‘Ghost Boat’ emerges in California lake, puzzling officials
The long haul to restore San Joaquin spring-run chinook
“When a team of fish biologists was tasked with restoring spring-run Chinook salmon in the San Joaquin River in 2006, none of them quite knew where to begin. The thirsty farms that crowd the river on both sides had taken almost all the water out of it most years since the mid-1900s, leaving a nearly 60-mile long stretch below Friant Dam near Fresno completely dry. The riverbed had been parched for so long that someone even built a house in it. The salmon that once thronged up-river by the hundreds of thousands had vanished, and there was no precedent for jumpstarting a population from scratch. Then one of the team members joked that they should just write a white paper saying it wasn’t going to work. “That broke the tension,” recalls Gerald Hatler, who manages the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Central Region Fisheries Program. “We all laughed—and then we sharpened our pencils and got to work.” That was shortly after a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)-led coalition prevailed in its 18-year lawsuit against the Friant Water Users and the U.S. Department of the Interior seeking to restore threatened spring-run Chinook and other fish in the San Joaquin River. … ” Read more from Estuary News here: The long haul to restore San Joaquin spring-run chinook
Rocky road to a fresh enough Delta
“Nothing reveals just how much the upper Estuary’s seesaw of tides and freshwater flows is micro-managed than prolonged drought, and the resulting fiddling with barriers, gates, and water quality standards to prevent the ocean tides and salinity from intruding too far upstream. Come summer, managers begin to talk fearfully of “losing control of the Delta” and the dreaded outcome: salt water too near the export pumps that supply tap water for millions of Californians. The ominous language is also reflected in the nickname of a new monitoring station at channel marker 42: “the point-of-no-return” station. Installed this August on the San Joaquin River just downstream of the Mokelumne River, the station joins a network of about 40 others at key Delta locations operated by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Department of Water Resources (DWR, see map). These stations send real-time data on water velocities, flow rates, salinity movements, and other water quality constituents swirling around the Delta to a computer platform every worried water manager can’t help keeping an eye on. “It’s an early-warning location,” says USGS hydrologist Jon Burau. … ” Read more from Estuary News here: Rocky road to a fresh enough Delta
Wildfire retardants illegally poisoning streams – lawsuit
“A group representing current and former U.S. Forest Service employees claims the federal agency is polluting American waterways by dumping chemical flame retardants from planes above national forests without permits, violating the nation’s clean water law. The nonprofit group Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE) filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Montana federal court saying the federal agency dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals into forest streams in recent years, despite concerns those chemicals kill fish and aren’t effective at fighting fires. The most commonly used chemicals are inorganic fertilizers and salts, according to the suit. … ” Read more from Reuters here: Wildfire retardants illegally poisoning streams – lawsuit
Caldor, King and Mosquito: the Sierra Foothill’s largest wildfires in recorded history
“Burning a total of 396,340 acres in a span of eight years, these three fires threatened communities and lives but represent an evolution in firefighting. FOX40 spoke with CAL FIRE Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit (NEU) Chief Brian Estes, who served with CAL FIRE on all three of these fire, about the similarities and differences between the Caldor, King and Mosquito Fires’ weather patterns, terrain and firefighting tactics. The King Fire burned from Sept. 13, 2014 to Oct. 9, 2014 across 97,717 acres of El Dorado County, near Pollock Pines. The Caldor Fire started on Aug. 14, 2021 and burned 221, 835 acres from Pleasant Valley to South Lake Tahoe until it was stopped on Oct. 21, 2021. The Mosquito Fire, which started on Sept. 6, 2022, has burned 76,788 acres and is at 90% containment as of Oct. 4. “Really you are going to define all of your challenges on a fire by three things; fuels, weather and topography,” Estes said. “If you align all three of those you got a perfect storm.” … ” Continue reading from Fox 40 here: Caldor, King and Mosquito: the Sierra Foothill’s largest wildfires in recorded history
Four elements of a healthy forest
“When you close your eyes and think of a healthy forest, you may picture one that’s thick with trees. But a healthy forest is complex, just like the plant and animal species that live there. Rick Kuyper, Sierra-Cascades division supervisor in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, has visited many of California’s forests. Kuyper and his team work alongside federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service, to recover listed species living in the Sierra Nevada. “We work closely with public land management agencies and private landowners to ensure we have healthy forests for the species in the Sierras,” said Kuyper. “Restoring and conserving good forest habitat is a key component to successfully recovering species like the southern Sierra Nevada fisher and Yosemite toad.” While the forests of California’s Sierra Nevada may not look like the forests near you, there are some things all healthy forests have in common. Here are four features of healthy forests that you can look for on your next journey into the outdoors. … ” Read more from the US Fish & Wildlife Service here: Four elements of a healthy forest
In commentary this week …
Upending water rights is easier said than done
Journalist Tim Heardon writes, “There are few issues in the West more contentious than its systems of water rights, as people in burgeoning urban centers start to gripe about water use by farms that date back generations. When there’s a drought, the voices who call for an overhaul of water rights grow louder and bolder. In a blog post in April, Natural Resources Defense Council senior water division director Katie Poole complained the current system in California is propped up by a “violent, racist and exclusionary history.” She says state regulators should more strictly interpret their “reasonable use” doctrine to reflect the “changing reality” of modern times. However, recent California court decisions demonstrate that upending the West’s more than century-old water rights mechanisms is probably easier said than done. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press here: Upending water rights is easier said than done
Pricing groundwater will help solve California’s water problems
Ellen Bruno, assistant professor of cooperative extension in quantitative policy analysis at UC Berkeley, writes, “In the face of its worst drought in centuries, California is finally getting around to regulating its groundwater use. As an agricultural economist who studies water regulation in California, I think this is a unique chance to change the way we price groundwater and protect this scarce resource. But I’m worried that we might not make the most of this opportunity. The Western US is currently in the midst of a megadrought — since 2000, the region has seen its driest two decades in more than a thousand years, in part because climate change has brought more heat and less rain and snow. This has put a huge strain on California’s groundwater supplies. The problem is that in most of California, agricultural groundwater use has long been a free-for-all. … ” Read more from Knowable Magazine here: Pricing groundwater will help solve California’s water problems
Commentary: Intensive agriculture evolves in world’s Salad Bowl
Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, writes, “The Salinas Valley is known as the Salad Bowl of the World—mainly because we produce much of the fresh produce that Americans and many others around the globe put on their dinner tables each night. These days, healthy diets may inevitably include fresh veggies, leafy greens and berries produced nearly year-round in Monterey County. Farming in Monterey County has evolved considerably from the days of the rancho haciendas. What we produce here barely compares with where commercial farming started more than 150 years ago with grain crops and then sugar beets. That’s because our farmers and ranchers know how to adapt. … ” Read more from Ag Alert here: Commentary: Intensive agriculture evolves in world’s Salad Bowl
Two Tulare County Supervisors have some advice for the State Water Control Board
Tulare County Supervisors Dennis Townsend and Larry Micari write, “It seems that everyone but the people at California’s State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) understands the gravity of the Central San Joaquin Valley drought emergency. Amid our constant advocacy to secure clean and reliable drinking water for our community members, we noticed that the State Board has released a draft of its “Racial Equity Action Plan” for public comment. When we talk to our constituents and the local Community Water Systems about their water needs, they talk about the need for adequate water storage and supply and highlight how the state is diverting water flows away from the Valley. They understand the need to ensure that their wells and infrastructure are up to date and that crumbling wells are replaced and properly capped. Not once has racism come up in the conversation. The State Board has recently been in the news for its poor handling of grant fund accountability, its slow application review processes, and its overreach of authority on water rights, as revealed by its loss in a significant court case regarding its ability to curtail river diversions during a drought. It is not racial inequity that has kept our communities in perpetual water insecurity, being served by hauled water deliveries for nearly a decade while their water projects linger in a limbo of government bureaucracy. The bureaucracy itself is the culprit. … ” Read the full commentary at Valley Voice here: Two Tulare County Supervisors have some advice for the State Water Control Board
California prioritizes fish over people during another drought
Zachary Faria, commentary writer, writes, “A California city is on the verge of running out of water, all thanks to the California Democratic Party’s unwavering commitment to environmentalism. The water supply for Coalinga (population: 17,252) will dry up in two months. The city’s only water source is an aqueduct managed by the federal government. With California in a drought, the “small Republican outpost” (as the Washington Postdescribes it) won’t make it until the end of the year without aid or buying water “on the open market at exorbitant prices.” The executive director of the city’s chamber of commerce feels that the city has been deprived of water in retaliation for defying state leadership on COVID restrictions, as Coalinga also wasn’t given any relief funds handed down by the state. The truth likely isn’t far off, as California’s mostly conservative (and mostly Hispanic) Central Valley has been given the short end of the stick on water allocation for years. … ” Read more from the Washington Examiner here: California prioritizes fish over people during another drought
ACWA Board approves ACWA Foundation, making aspirational goal a reality
ACWA Board President Pamela Tobin writes, “After years of discussion and several months of intense planning by a dedicated steering committee and multiple workgroups, my aspirational goal for ACWA of forming a new nonprofit foundation is finally becoming a reality. I’m proud to announce that on Sept. 23, the ACWA Board of Directors approved filing the necessary legal paperwork to form the nonprofit ACWA Foundation, which will advance the association’s efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the water industry. I can’t say enough about how thankful I am for the Board’s support, as well as the hard work and leadership of everyone who helped get us over the hurdles and toward the finish line. I’ve heard from so many people within our membership who agree that ACWA must be able to lead on this issue within California’s water industry. … ” Read more from ACWA News here: ACWA Board approves ACWA Foundation, making aspirational goal a reality
Running on empty: How the continued drought in California could impact food supply nationwide
Mike Wade, Executive Director of the California Farm Water Coalition, writes, “Increased food prices are due to a combination of multiple factors such as higher transportation and labor costs and the effects of the war in Ukraine. But they’ve also increased because of reduced availability. Consider the following statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture: In 2019, 46% less cantaloupe was available than in 1999. In 2019, 40% fewer grapes were available in 2019 than in 1989. In general, there were nearly 2 pounds less fruit available per person in 2019 compared to 1970. And these figures don’t yet reflect the dismal harvest figures expected this year. The fact that California farms produce 60% of our nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables is taken for granted. … ” Read more from Irrigation Today here: Running on empty: How the continued drought in California could impact food supply nationwide
Commercial community should share in water-saving effort
John L. Varela, chair pro tem of the Santa Clara Valley Water Board of Directors, writes, “Santa Clara County is making headlines for being a leader in water conservation. The efforts we undertook this summer have resulted in our county exceeding our board’s call for conservation. In June 2021, the Valley Water Board of Directors established a 15% water use reduction call for Santa Clara County, compared to 2019. After months of steady progress, Santa Clara County reached this goal in July, saving 16%. I want to thank everyone who made a difference for our community by taking steps to reduce water use during this drought. We don’t know how much rain and snow this winter will bring us, so we must continue reducing our water use. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News here: Commercial community should share in water-saving effort
Four key strategies for tackling Colorado River crisis
Ron Burke, president and CEO, and Mary Ann Dickinson, past president and CEO of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, write, “All eyes are on Utah and the six other Colorado River Basin (CRB) states that recently missed the federal government’s deadline to adopt a plan that substantially cuts water usage in just one year. The 23rd consecutive year of drought, fueled by climate change, has accelerated the basin’s water crisis. Quite simply, demand for water within the CRB exceeds what the basin can sustainably provide. While some have called for desalinization and piping water from the Midwest, the fastest and least expensive ways to restore the CRB’s water balance are by using existing water supplies more efficiently to reduce demand, which can also lower water bills, reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and protect rivers and lakes. … ” Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune here: Four key strategies for tackling Colorado River crisis
In regional water news this week …
Tuolumne Utilities District optimistic negotiations will proceed with PG&E over water infrastructure
“There have been some new developments related to TUD’s desire to purchase PG&E water infrastructure such as Pinecrest Lake, Lyons Reservoir and the Tuolumne Main Canal. We reported in June that TUD was in negotiations to acquire the assets, but discussions were halted because PG&E wanted to “re-evaluate its long-term strategy.” PG&E has now announced that it has formed a new subsidiary company, Pacific Generation, LLC, and has filed with the California Public Utilities Commission to sell a minority stake in that subsidiary. Pacific Generation is planning to own the company’s “non-nuclear power generation assets.” … ” Read more from The Union here: Tuolumne Utilities District optimistic negotiations will proceed with PG&E over water infrastructure
Investigation shows Forest Service mismanagement contributed to Caldor Fire devastation
“The brave firefighters battling the dangerous and fast-moving fires in Northern California put their lives on the line to protect local communities from the historic flames recently seen in the region. But there’s now question as to how forest service management is handling these fires and whether strategies implemented during the Caldor Fire actually slowed containment efforts and added to the devastation. 60 Minutes recently released a damning investigation that showed how the U.S. Forest Service mismanaged the response at the beginning of the Caldor Fire, which allowed the flames to devastate the community of Grizzly Flats, along with other communities in the Sierra. “In our opinion, they did nothing to put the fire out,” said Candace Tyler, who lost her home in the fire, in an interview with 60 Minutes. … ” Read more from Active NorCal here: Investigation shows Forest Service mismanagement contributed to Caldor Fire devastation
S.F. starts a plan to deal with 7 feet in sea-level rise. It could reshape the city shoreline
“Even as it grapples with how to protect the Embarcadero from earthquakes and climate change, San Francisco is embarking on a more expensive, almost existential task: planning how to prepare the city’s bay shoreline for as much as seven feet of sea level rise. The study being done with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the next year covers an area extending from Fisherman’s Wharf south to the Hunters Point shipyard, and aims to map out an adaptation strategy through 2100. Because the Army Corps is involved, the federal government could fund at least half of the long-term costs, a figure sure to run well into the billions. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: S.F. starts a plan to deal with 7 feet in sea-level rise. It could reshape the city shoreline
Merced Irrigation District sued over defunct fish ladder
“A long defunct fish ladder on an historic dam on the Merced River is the focus of a public trust lawsuit by advocacy group Water Audit California. The lawsuit, filed in late September, demands the Merced Irrigation District repair and properly maintain a fish ladder on the Crocker-Huffman Dam, about 30 miles northeast of the City of Merced. The fish ladder was possibly built around the same time as the dam back in the 1910s. A photo showing a man standing alongside what is labeled as a fish ladder on the dam in 1920 can be found on a Mariposa County genealogy website. But sometime in the 1970s, the Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended closing the fish ladder and instead trying to move native Chinook salmon, steelhead and other fish around the dam in an experimental “spawning channel,” according to a 2009 letter from Fish and Wildlife that is included in exhibits attached to the lawsuit. … ” Read more from SJV Water here: Merced Irrigation District sued over defunct fish ladder
Los Angeles is running out of time to solve water crisis. Are leaders willing to act?
“On a clear afternoon recently, Mayor Eric Garcetti looked down at the Hollywood Reservoir from 1,200 feet in the air. “It’s as low as I can ever remember it being,” Garcetti said of the reservoir from the back seat of a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power helicopter. “You can see the bathtub ring.” The aerial survey of L.A.’s water infrastructure came at a critical moment. Over the last decade, the city has made significant investments in its future, including major projects to expand its ability to capture, store and recycle water. But now, on the eve of an election, much of the work remains unfinished — with target dates for some major water projects set as far as 2050. With the city facing what is sure to be one of the hottest, driest and most challenging climate eras on record, it is essential that its next leader sees the work through to completion, Garcetti said. … ” Read more from the LA Times here: Los Angeles is running out of time to solve water crisis. Are leaders willing to act?
How an ARkstorm could wreak havoc on Los Angeles
“No one knows when it’ll happen—it could be five months or five decades. No one can say exactly how bad it will be, although most predictions put it somewhere between a Roland Emmerich disaster movie and a diluvial apocalypse. At this point, only one thing is for sure. It’s going to get wet. Very, very wet. It’s called the ARkStorm scenario, a catastrophic weather event that, according to a terrifying, just-released report compiled by scientists at UCLA, could dwarf California’s droughts, fires, and even earthquakes in overall destruction. ... ” Read more from LA Magazine here: How an ARkstorm could wreak havoc on Los Angeles
Energy giant Kinder Morgan completes decades-long cleanup of Mission Valley fuel plume
“A toxic fuel plume that for decades contaminated soil and groundwater under the former Qualcomm Stadium parking lot in Mission Valley has finally been cleaned up, officials announced Wednesday. Roughly 1.6 million gallons of fuel leaked from the nearby Mission Valley Terminal in the 1980s and ‘90s, according to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners became responsible for the cleanup after acquiring the facility in 1998, several years after the water board discovered the contamination. The spill is one of largest of its kind in California. “Cleaning up the contamination of the Mission Valley aquifer is a remarkable achievement,” said Rob Hutsel, president of the San Diego River Park Foundation. “We applaud all parties that worked for so many years to rid the San Diego River and the community of this pollution.” … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune here: Energy giant Kinder Morgan completes decades-long cleanup of Mission Valley fuel plume
Rebalancing the Colorado River basin: How much must be cut and what will it cost?
“A set of laws and agreements collectively known as the Law of the River allocate water among users and uses: among the Upper Basin, Lower Basin, and Mexico; among states within each basin; and according to priorities based on seniority of use and other state and federal laws, agreements, and court decisions. Agreements negotiated among the parties in 2007 and 2019 define how cuts would be assigned under defined shortage conditions, though these agreements expire and must be renegotiated by the end of 2026. It is now clear that these negotiated cuts will be insufficient to bring the system back in balance, so two questions are foremost. Where can the states find additional cuts? And what will it cost to induce further voluntary cuts? … Several announcements in recent weeks highlight the expenditures of taxpayer money that are at stake. The federal government has established billions of dollars for western drought relief funding that could be used in part to pay growers to reduce water use. So, what is a reasonable expectation for reducing water use further, at what cost, and to whom? … ” Read more from ESA Economics here: Rebalancing the Colorado River basin: How much must be cut and what will it cost?
In national water news this week …
Not your childhood water cycle: The USGS just debuted a complete remaking of the water cycle diagram—with humans as headliners
“It’s a sight most remember from childhood: a drawing showing the path of water from oceans to clouds to rivers. Long, lavish words like “evapotranspiration” and “precipitation” likely come to mind. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) water cycle diagram is still used by hundreds of thousands of students in the United States and worldwide. It’s also the basis for many, many spin-off diagrams. Today, the agency released a new diagram for the first time in more than 20 years, this time with humans as showrunners. Although people have long siphoned water from groundwater and diverted rivers into farm fields and industrial plants, the new diagram is the first time humans have been included in what was presented until now as a “natural” cycle. … ” Continue reading from EOS here: Not your childhood water cycle: The USGS just debuted a complete remaking of the water cycle diagram—with humans as headliners
How harsh will winter be? Six organizations issue forecasts.
“While it is still several weeks until the official start of winter on Dec. 21, several organizations are already unveiling their nationwide Winter 2022-2023 forecasts. Note that even the most scientifically advanced seasonal outlooks cannot pinpoint what the weather will be in a particular place at a particular time this far in advance. But, with varying levels of success, they can paint a broad picture of how hot or cold or wet or dry different parts of the country may be compared to average. Whether you are a fan of snow, here is the latest roundup of what meteorologists are saying about the weather in the coming months. For entertainment purposes, we also summarize the outlooks from the Farmers’ Almanac and its rival, the Old Farmer’s almanac — but meteorologists put little stock in those predictions. … ” Read more from the Washington Post here: How harsh will winter be? Six organizations issue forecasts.
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
NOTICE for Water Quality Certification Application for Lower Klamath Project License Surrender
NOW AVAILABLE: Revised Draft Amendments to Delta Plan’s Administrative Procedures Governing Appeals
NOTICE of Staff Workshop on Proposed Refined Watershed Analysis and Friant Priority Date Adjustments in the Water Unavailability Methodology for the Delta Watershed
UPDATE: October 11 Weekly Update on Curtailment Status of Water Rights and Claims in the Delta Watershed
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: DWR Now Accepting Applications for $510 Million in Financial Assistance to Support Water Supply Reliability, Yard Transformation, and Migratory Birds
YOUR INPUT WANTED: Survey Launched to Inform the Planning of a Restoration Forum
